Zonohirsuta

Taxonomy

Family: Apidae
Subfamily: Xylocopinae
Tribe: Xylocopini
Genus: Xylocopa
Subgenus: Zonohirsuta, Maa 1938
Common name: Carpenter bee

 

Background

Xylocopa (Zonohirsuta) is smaller than most other carpenter bees, but larger than the average honeybee. Females have a black to dark brown integumentintegument:
a tough, protective outer layer
. They have a black to dark brown pubescencepubescence:
short, fine hair
that covers their legs, and the underside of their abdomen and thorax. They tend to have a very subtle white pubescencepubescence:
short, fine hair
that covers the top band of the thorax and the face. Their wings are brown to dark brown and have a violet iridescent color. Males tend to be thickly pubescent with clear to blond hair covering all of their integumentintegument:
a tough, protective outer layer
except on the dorsaldorsal:
in general, the upper surface
side of their abdomen. They have a brown to dark brown integumentintegument:
a tough, protective outer layer
with a section on their face that is lighter than the rest of their integumentintegument:
a tough, protective outer layer
, ranging from chocolate brown to nearly white. Their wings are brown to dark brown and have a violet iridescent color. In some species, the males are extremely thickly pubescent, giving them a fuzzy appearance. These males have an orange to blond pubescencepubescence:
short, fine hair
that covers their whole body except their head. (Hurd and Moure 1963Hurd and Moure 1963:
Hurd, P.D. and J.S. Moure. 1963. A Classification of the Large Carpenter Bees (Xylocopine) (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). University of California Publications in Entomology (Vol. 29). Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 365 pp.).

Diversity

Xylocopa (Zonohirsuta) contains 6 species (Maa 1940Maa 1940:
Maa, T.C. 1940. Xylocopa Orientalia cririca (Hymen.), II. Subgenus Zonohirsuta Maa. Lingnan Science Journal 19:383-402.; Ascher et al. 2007Ascher et al. 2007:
Ascher, J., C. Eardley, T. Griswold, G. Melo, A. Polaszek, M. Ruggiero, P. Williams, K. Walker. 2007. World Bee Checklist Project. Accessed through itis.gov).

Distribution

Xylocopa (Zonohirsuta) occurs in southeast Asia, specifically in Sri Lanka, India, and Tibet, east over to southern China, the Philippines, and Indonesia (Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.).

​Distribution map generated by Discover Life -- click on map for details, credits, and terms of use.

Host associations

Most members of the genus Xylocopa are generalist pollinators, meaning that they will pollinate almost any flower that they can fit into. Carpenter bees may also engage in nectar robbing, a behavior in which a hole is bored into the base of a flower to get access to the nectar of the flower (Keasar 2010Keasar 2010:
Keasar, T. 2010. Large Carpenter Bees as Agricultural Pollinators. Psyche doi:10.1155/2010/927463.). Xylocopa (Zonohirsuta) is most likely a generalist pollinator including a pollinator of crops (Klein et al. 2003Klein et al. 2003:
Klein, A-M., I. Steffan-Dewenter, and T. Tscharntke. 2003. Fruit set of highland coffee increases with the diversity of pollinating bees. Proceedings of The Royal Society 270:955-961.; Klein et al. 2006). Some species it has been recorded visiting include Brassica napi, Donax cannaeformis, Luffa cylindrica, Meliocope triphylla, Mimosa pudica, Stachytarpeta indica, Vicia faba, and Wistaria sinensis (Maa 1940Maa 1940:
Maa, T.C. 1940. Xylocopa Orientalia cririca (Hymen.), II. Subgenus Zonohirsuta Maa. Lingnan Science Journal 19:383-402.).

Nesting behavior

Most members of Xylocopa bore into wood stems and branches in order to construct nests. Typically, where space allows it, they construct branched nests. This can include structural timbers and may damage plants or structures. Some species show specific preferences for nest sites, but most do not or have not had preferences reported (Michener2007). Xylocopa (Zonohirsuta) nests in decaying wood (Hurd and Moure 1963Hurd and Moure 1963:
Hurd, P.D. and J.S. Moure. 1963. A Classification of the Large Carpenter Bees (Xylocopine) (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). University of California Publications in Entomology (Vol. 29). Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 365 pp.) as well as seasoned lumber and dead branches. It is considered a pest in some of its native habitats (Maa 1940Maa 1940:
Maa, T.C. 1940. Xylocopa Orientalia cririca (Hymen.), II. Subgenus Zonohirsuta Maa. Lingnan Science Journal 19:383-402.).

Known invasives

There are no known invasives.